Knives come out for Corus, to the companys glee

CORUS, the Anglo-Dutch steel maker, is heading for its first full-year profit for six years thanks to soaring steel prices — and, in theory, the UK’s weapons amnesty.

The company, which is battling higher raw material costs, has chanced on a novel source of cheap scrap steel for the smelting process: knives and guns collected by police forces across the country as part of the amnesty.

News of the unorthodox source of scrap steel comes as Corus’s UK operations returned to profit stability for the first time since the company was formed through a controversial merger in 1999.

Corus reported first-half operating profits of £125 million and said it was on track for a full-year profit before and after tax.

The financial turnaround at Corus…

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